Vacuuminga pool?

[hanau]

When Vacuuming your pool do you leave the sand filter on filter, then backwash when done Vacuuming?

Or do you put sand filter to waste when Vacuuming?


I always put to waste while Vacuuming, i never thought about it till now and thought i would ask.

 

[Bama Rambler]

I usually leave mine on filter unless I'm cleaning a bunch of dirt or oak worms. Vacumming to waste uses a lot more water than vacuuming on filter and then backwashing, in my experience anyway. YMMV

 

[poolhound]

If you have a lot of stuff to vacuum out I would switch to waste, if just a little spot cleaning I leave on filter and backwash when the pressure reaches my backwash level. If you leave on filter and have a lot to clean out the filter pressure will rise rapidly and you will have to backwash frequently. Experience will tell you which uses the least water.

 

[bk406]

It depends on how much "stuff" I'm trying to vacuum out of the pool. Most of the time, I vacuum with it set to "filter" ~90% of the time). I use this setting for my routine once or twice a week vacuum. Once in awhile, I will vacuum to waste. If there is unusually heavy debris I dont want going thru the filter, I'll use that setting. I use a skimmer sock too, so it catches a lot of stuff there as well. I dont backwash after every vacuum either. For me, my base filter pressure runs around 10 psi. When it hits 16-17, i'll backwash.

 

[Durk]

It depends. In my old pool, 40K gal and a 3/4hp pump, I would always vacuum to waste. I needed the better performance and I didn't lose that much water. In my new pool, 28k gal and a 1.5hp pump with all 2" plumbing, I lose several inches of water if I vacuum to waste and I can barely move the vac head. So I always vacuum to filter. I only backwash when I reach my pressure limit. The pump trap gets all the big stuff.

So try it both ways and see what works for you.

 

[NWMNMom]

If you have a lot of large debris an inline leaf/debris canister will be your filter's best friend. They install about 4-5' from the skimmer/vac connecton and can really reduce the amount of times you have to backwash and/or vac to waste - obviously they are not intended to catch small partical waste like algae, but if it is leaves and large debris, they really help.

 

[hanau]

Thanks for everyone's replies. I didn't know if there was a correct way to vacuum or not.

I have always vacuum to waste.
Since i do most of the vacuuming in the morning , I go out before the pump kicks on and all of the debris is in the center, Vacuum it up and hit anything that i can see.
Then repeat in a few days.

 

[Bama Rambler]

The correct way to vacuum is to do what works for you. If I could get out every day and it all be in a neat pile I'd probably vacuum to waste all the time too.

My junk's never in a neat pile, it's all over and since I'm responsible for getting the GS to baseball games and practice I only get to vacuum once or twice a week.